A daily blog from the actor, musician, comic and back end of Doggett & Ephgrave. "As smooth as they come" (BBC.co.uk)

Friday, 7 July 2017

"I Hung it On Me Wall."

I’m warning you
with Peace and Love that Ringo Starr's 77 today.

It’s
extraordinary to think the most underrated Beatle is pushing eighty,
particularly when he’s looked the same for a good decade or so; it seems
constantly wearing sunglasses and that closely-cropped beard since the late-1980s
has paid off. He’s a man who provokes frustration as, despite once seeming the most amenable Fab, these days he’s very hard to like; it’s as
if he felt it necessary to take Lennon’s brashness after he passed away, along
with his iconoclastic nature, famously slamming his old home town Liverpool,
his fans for requesting signed pictures and often putting Paul in his
place.

While I find it
hard to warm to modern-day Ringo, there’s one thing I know for certain: the
suggestion he wasn’t a good drummer is a myth. His playing is about as
distinctive as it gets; it wouldn’t matter what kit he's behind, you’d always
know it’s him, yet for some reason he always gets a bad rap. There are
countless examples of finally-nuanced playing, from the more the obvious tracks like She
Said She Said, Rain or A Day in The Life to the less

mentioned
performances on In My Life, Birthday and I Want You (She’s So Heavy). His
time-keeping is impeccable (look at all those live performances in the face of
the jumbo-jet-engine roar of Beatlemania, when he often couldn’t hear John,
Paul and George’s playing, yet never missed a beat) - and anyway, good playing
isn’t always about being flash (though he can do that when he wants), it’s
about playing what’s right, and Ringo’s
always done that.

So, despite
finding his persona slightly dickish, I’ll still raise a metaphorical glass:
Happy Birthday Ringo; here’s hoping the blisters you had in '68 went down.

About Me

David Ephgrave is a comedian, writer, actor, musician and pauper – and back end of the comic duo Doggett & Ephgrave. Most recently, he was featured amongst the Daily Telegraph’s 20 Funniest
One-liners of the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe and Comedy Central’s 35
Funniest Jokes of the Year (2017) plus i Newspaper’s 50 Best Jokes, The
Scotsman’s 40 Best Jokes and Edinburgh Evening News’ 40 Funnest
One-Liners of 2018 Edinburgh Fringe lists.

Credits with D & E include (in brief): eleven
seasons with The Comedy Project at the Soho Theatre, various stand-up
shows on the Edinburgh, Brighton, Camden and Leicester Fringe – plus
Mostly Comedy, their monthly comedy club at both Leicester Square
Theatre and the Market Theatre in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. A notable
D&E career highlight was reading an episode of their self-written
sitcom Nick & Joe at the Soho Theatre, alongside a cast including
Michael Barrymore and Norman Lovett (Holly in ‘Red Dwarf’).

Doggett & Ephgrave host the More Than Mostly Comedy
Podcast, in which they interview many of the acts that play their club.
Interviewees include Phill Jupitus, Paul Daniels, Sean Hughes, Richard Herring,
Arthur Smith, Kevin Eldon, Phil Kay and John Thomson, to name a few.
They also present a weekly show, Doggett & Ephgrave: In Your Inner
Ear, on SG1 Radio.

David’s solo acting credits include playing Beatles legends John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the No. 1
Tour of The Roy Orbison Story,Buddy Holly in the UK / Ireland Tour of
Buddy Holly and the Cricketers and Richard in the West End production
of Dreamboats and Petticoats.

David took his first solo stand-up show, ‘…and
Ephgrave’, to the 2015 Brighton and Camden Fringe Festivals, his second, 'Mostly David Ephgrave', to Brighton and Edinburgh in 2016, his third, 'Now Who's a Comedian', to Edinburgh in 2017 - and his fourth, 'David Ephgrave: My Part in His Downfall' to Edinburgh in August 2018. He also
writes a daily blog.

Among the Daily Telegraphs 20 Funniest One-liners from 2017 Edinburgh Fringe, Comedy Centrals 35 Funniest Jokes of the Year 2017 and i Newspaper's 50 Best Jokes from 2018 Edinburgh Fringe lists.

“David Ephgrave was as smooth as they come” (BBC)

“...has an eye for the bizarre, the sinister and the downright ridiculous” (Camden Fringe Voyeur)

"Ephgrave is extremely comfortable on stage, handling enthusiastic heckles with ease...the way
he interacts with his audience and gets the timing spot on does reveal he's no newcomer to the comedy
circuit." (View From the Gods)

"Wonderfully innovative comedy." (Broadway Baby)

"David Ephgrave is a refreshingly down to earth comedian...devastatingly witty." (Edinburgh Festivals Magazine)

"Ephgrave is a very likeable standup, confident but not cocky, and a lot of fun to
spend time with...He's a natural entertainer." (View From The Gods)